PressClub Portugal · Article.

BMW M6 GT3 teams work their ways towards the front in the early stages of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.

Tue May 30 12:21:33 CEST 2017 Informação à Imprensa

The 45th edition of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (GER) is underway – and the BMW teams have started the endurance classic in the Eifel mountains without any major incidents. At 20:00, a total of four BMW M6 GT3 cars are positioned within the top 10 of the overall standings. The highest placed BMW is the #42 of BMW Team Schnitzer, driven by Augusto Farfus (BRA), Marco Wittmann (GER), Martin Tomczyk (GER) and Tom Blomqvist (GBR) in sixth position.

BMW Motorsport

·

24h Races

Press Contact.

Downloads.

Nürburgring. The 45th edition of the 24-hour race
at the Nürburgring (GER) is underway – and the BMW teams have
started the endurance classic in the Eifel mountains without any
major incidents. At 20:00, a total of four BMW M6 GT3 cars are
positioned within the top 10 of the overall standings. The highest
placed BMW is the #42 of BMW Team Schnitzer, driven by Augusto
Farfus (BRA), Marco Wittmann (GER), Martin Tomczyk (GER) and Tom
Blomqvist (GBR) in sixth position.

In hot and sunny conditions, with temperatures up to 27 degrees
Celsius, the field of 160 cars started the journey through the “Green
Hell” at 15:30. The BMW drivers did not take any risks in the early
stages and soon got into their rhythm. Only the team of Walkenhorst
Motorsport experienced some bad luck: the #101 BMW M6 GT3 dropped back
due to technical issues but is still in the race.

The endurance test for the new BMW M4 GT4 is going well so far. Dirk
Adorf (GER), who takes part in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for
the 25th time, BMW Motorsport Junior Ricky Collard (GBR),
Jörg Weidinger (GER) and Jethro Bovingdon (GBR) are currently
42nd overall.

Drivers’ quotes:

Marco Wittmann (#42 BMW M6 GT3, BMW Team Schnitzer):
“So far, so good. We still are in the first hours of racing,
so you can’t say too much right now. My stint was generally okay; now
and then there were Code 60s and yellow flags. First of all, it is
important to come through the opening phase of the race without any
incidents. Thanks for crossing the fingers for us.”

António Félix da Costa (#43 BMW M6 GT3, BMW Team Schnitzer):
“I can only say ‚Wow‘ after my first race 24h race laps in
the BMW M6 GT3. This race is a big adventure, there are so many cars
out there. Although it’s a 24-hour race, everyone tries to not lose
any time in traffic. Initially I tried to get a good feeling in the
car. Then it ‘clicked‘. From that moment I had a good pace and could
overtake some cars. Hopefully there are many more stints to come.”

Alexander Sims (#98/#99 BMW M6 GT3, ROWE Racing): “It
was all smooth and it went well. We pitted early compared to the rest,
to get some clean track and that worked well I think. All is working
well so far. I honestly didn't know I had been leading the race until
I came into the box, but it's never a bad place to be.”

Jörg Müller (#19/#20 BMW M6 GT3, Schubert Motorsport):
“I drove the start and it went pretty well. But one thing is
for sure: this is the hottest 24-hour race I have ever contested here.
It is crucial to manage the tyres well and I succeeded in doing that.”

Philipp Eng (#99 BMW M6 GT3, ROWE Racing): “It is a
really hot race. We can still feel the high temperatures in the
cockpit despite the fact that we have great air conditioning in the
BMW M6 GT3. You could see that everyone is cautious in the early
stages of the race, especially when it comes to lapping in traffic.
You need to manage the tyres very well and bring them safely over the
distance. We should be able to improve in the standings when it gets cooler.”

Dirk Adorf (#40 BMW M4 GT4, Securtal Sorg Rennsport):
“It is nearly relaxing to drive the BMW M4 GT4 – despite the
hot conditions. This is exactly how a customer racing car should be:
you should feel comfortable behind the wheel and this is just the case
with the BMW M4 GT4. We don’t have any issues and are going a pretty
fast pace.”